China: Most feed free of melamine

After examining 22,700 batches of animal feed in China, only 2.39 percent were found with excessive melamine content, the National Feed Office, under the Ministry of Agriculture, said on Saturday.

China began investigating melamine in feed in early 2007 and banned its use in June 2007, after wheat gluten for pet food exported to the US was found with excessive melamine content. However, the country increased its efforts to deal with the problem after milk and eggs, which had been tainted with melamine, were found in the market in September.

The National Feed Office is working on amending the 1999 regulation on the management of feed and feed additives. Hopefully, the new version of the regulation will be released in January 2009. China will also strengthen the market threshold for feed and its additive producers, and improve the risk analysis and safety evaluation mechanism.